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Decolonizing urban space: The future potentials of new urban reserves and the indigenization of cities
Academic Work
Stemming from settler-colonial narratives and romanticisms, Indigenous people’s right to Canadian cities have long been contested and challenged. As reform and decolonization have slowly occurred,
such narratives and facilitative policies have now either been condemned or altered. Additionally, Indigenous populations have demanded proper urban representation via placemaking and the indigenization of
urban space. Within recent decades, First Nation bands have looked to enact their right to self-determination through the establishment of new urban reserves (NURs).
New urban reserves are best described as satellite land holdings in municipalities, acquired by First
Nation bands in response to entitled land owed by the federal government. NURs should not be confused
with urban reserves that were established within or nearby cities in the 1800s. NURs have largely been
created within prairie provinces (i.e., Saskatchewan & Manitoba), with nations looking to both Treaty
Land Entitlement (TLE) and Additions to Reserve (ATR) policies for the rectification of federally owed
land. These NURs have largely been used as economic revenue ventures for First Nations, being described
as “economic development zones” since the turn of the 21st century.
In the following research, I look to challenge and expand the scope and capabilities of NURs, believing them to act as spaces for increased urban indigenization and placemaking. I argue that NURs are
tools which can facilitate the decolonization of both urban space and municipal governance structures.
This research uses a comparative case study analysis and a review of literature and policy to better
understand the strengths and weaknesses of existing NURs, with specific focus on:
a. The dynamics of asymmetrical negotiation between First Nations and municipalities in establishing NURs.
b. New urban reserves’ residential housing potential
c. Urban Indigenous placemaking in the face of racism and stigma
These findings were supplemented via interviews with First Nation and municipal representatives from
two case studies: 1) Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and the City of Saskatoon, and 2) Long Plain First Nation
and the City of Winnipeg. Both case studies exist under their own respective contexts, with varying degrees of overlap.
Strategies discussed to help project NURs towards their true potential as agents of decolonization
include the subject of Indigenous resistance and historical urban placemaking. First Nations continue to
navigate NURs through a settler-neoliberal system (i.e., the dominating capitalist system of economic
growth and the pursuance/accumulation of capital—existing as arguably the antithesis to many Indigenous life ways). While First Nations participate in the neoliberal system, their reasoning to do so stems
from supporting and uplifting their own communities that face continuing systemic disinvestment. The
integration of indigeneity into municipal government and planning departments is then addressed, arguing that such initiative can facilitate a “Third Space” as a new model of municipal governance. Indigenous understanding and knowledge would be intertwined within the existing settler model, creating both a new model and standard of co-existence. Finally, a brief overview of both the First Nation Land Management Act (FNLMA) and Canada’s introduction of The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is explored with relation to NURs and federal policy. A series of recommendations arising from the described case study analysis and discussion are: 1) The establishment of a “Third Space” model, harbouring better municipal-Indigenous relationships. 2) Reforms to municipal services agreements to help eliminate municipal leverage used coercively over First Nation authority and self-determination. 3) Municipal initiative that educates the non-Indigenous population about new urban reserves internally and externally 4) Combatting stigma and racism through municipal allyship with First Nations 5) Dedication and commitment towards the reform of state policies more broadly The ambition of this research is not to provide an exhaustive list of recommendations, but rather contribute to a dialogue on decolonizing urban space. New urban reserves provide an opportunity to dismantle inequitable municipal-Indigenous structures and to rethink new, harmonious relations.
such narratives and facilitative policies have now either been condemned or altered. Additionally, Indigenous populations have demanded proper urban representation via placemaking and the indigenization of
urban space. Within recent decades, First Nation bands have looked to enact their right to self-determination through the establishment of new urban reserves (NURs).
New urban reserves are best described as satellite land holdings in municipalities, acquired by First
Nation bands in response to entitled land owed by the federal government. NURs should not be confused
with urban reserves that were established within or nearby cities in the 1800s. NURs have largely been
created within prairie provinces (i.e., Saskatchewan & Manitoba), with nations looking to both Treaty
Land Entitlement (TLE) and Additions to Reserve (ATR) policies for the rectification of federally owed
land. These NURs have largely been used as economic revenue ventures for First Nations, being described
as “economic development zones” since the turn of the 21st century.
In the following research, I look to challenge and expand the scope and capabilities of NURs, believing them to act as spaces for increased urban indigenization and placemaking. I argue that NURs are
tools which can facilitate the decolonization of both urban space and municipal governance structures.
This research uses a comparative case study analysis and a review of literature and policy to better
understand the strengths and weaknesses of existing NURs, with specific focus on:
a. The dynamics of asymmetrical negotiation between First Nations and municipalities in establishing NURs.
b. New urban reserves’ residential housing potential
c. Urban Indigenous placemaking in the face of racism and stigma
These findings were supplemented via interviews with First Nation and municipal representatives from
two case studies: 1) Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and the City of Saskatoon, and 2) Long Plain First Nation
and the City of Winnipeg. Both case studies exist under their own respective contexts, with varying degrees of overlap.
Strategies discussed to help project NURs towards their true potential as agents of decolonization
include the subject of Indigenous resistance and historical urban placemaking. First Nations continue to
navigate NURs through a settler-neoliberal system (i.e., the dominating capitalist system of economic
growth and the pursuance/accumulation of capital—existing as arguably the antithesis to many Indigenous life ways). While First Nations participate in the neoliberal system, their reasoning to do so stems
from supporting and uplifting their own communities that face continuing systemic disinvestment. The
integration of indigeneity into municipal government and planning departments is then addressed, arguing that such initiative can facilitate a “Third Space” as a new model of municipal governance. Indigenous understanding and knowledge would be intertwined within the existing settler model, creating both a new model and standard of co-existence. Finally, a brief overview of both the First Nation Land Management Act (FNLMA) and Canada’s introduction of The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is explored with relation to NURs and federal policy. A series of recommendations arising from the described case study analysis and discussion are: 1) The establishment of a “Third Space” model, harbouring better municipal-Indigenous relationships. 2) Reforms to municipal services agreements to help eliminate municipal leverage used coercively over First Nation authority and self-determination. 3) Municipal initiative that educates the non-Indigenous population about new urban reserves internally and externally 4) Combatting stigma and racism through municipal allyship with First Nations 5) Dedication and commitment towards the reform of state policies more broadly The ambition of this research is not to provide an exhaustive list of recommendations, but rather contribute to a dialogue on decolonizing urban space. New urban reserves provide an opportunity to dismantle inequitable municipal-Indigenous structures and to rethink new, harmonious relations.
AW.00003
July 2021
Geography
Copyright © Zane Davey, 2021
Thesis / Dissertation
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